Celticharper

My DH just got an email about a great fair on AA from Boston to Moscow, $265.00 round trip, so he booked the tickets for us already. We leave on April 10th, we will be in Moscow for 4 days. I mean he just booked the tickets 20 minutes ago.

So HELP!!! I need to know the best way to get a tourist visa, I looked online and there were so many agencies offering visa's that I knew I had to come here because someone would know just the right site. The fees and even the amount due to the Embassy was different on each site, so I will admit I am confused. DH by the way didn't know we needed a visa.

I also need for someone to recommend a hotel that won't break the bank. I'd like to keeo it under $150 a night if possible. As I read the Visa application I need to have the hotel reservation in place for my application, is that correct?

I haven't even begun to do any research so if anyone could make any suggestions I would be eternally grateful.

flyfaraway

I poked around on the Marriott Rewards Insiders site for you (http://www.marriottrewardsinsiders.marriott.com) and I know there's a Marriott Courtyard near Red Square, and there's a Marriott Grand in Moscow as well. Good luck!

tower

Hi Boston:

Try this efficient well-known organization..even if their fees are a little higher than others, they deliver the goods. Your time is getting <b>very short</b>..the visa process can be frustrating and LONG...I'd recommend calling them today....
We used them last October. As for hotels under $150...tough call; I have no recommendations.

http://www.genvisa.com/

CALL: 800-845-8968 <u>TODAY</u>, seriously. You may have to pay extra for expediting.

Stuart Tower (ex-Quincy-ite..now L.A.)
[email protected] (will link my recent Russia pix if you wish)

Celticharper

Thank you flyfaraway, I suffered sticker shock when I looked at the prices for hotels in Moscow. We are used to traveling on the real cheap so the prices that I looked at were heart stopping.

Celticharper

Hi Tower,

Thanks that's just what I needed, I saw a variety of sites online to do this, but didn't know which ones were the best.

I'll get on it right away.

laurie_ann

You might also consider looking through www.hostels.com. For a budget many hostels have private rooms and that site also includes in most locations budget hotels as well. There are photos, reviews, online booking and you can always backtrack and look at ratings for a particular property on tripadvisor, thorntree (lonely planet website), etc.

thursdaysd

Suggest you spend some time at waytorussia.net, and maybe http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...&keywordid=142. Good luck with the hotels, you may have to stay a ways out of the center.

Are you going to Russia for just four days? Or just starting in Moscow?

LaurenKahn1

Moscow is really not set up for the budget traveler.

djkbooks

For the most favorable rates, the location will not be convenient.

Have a look at www.easyclicktravel.com (I've used them many times for other destinations for great rates and no problems.)

However, do check out Hotel Sovietsky (see reviews on TripAdvisor). Friends of ours stayed here last fall for just over $200 USD and just loved the place.

You can get rates for your dates here

http://www.moscow-hotels.net/histori...ervations.aspx

If you book here (and this is how our friends booked), you have to complete a booking form and wait for rates, but there's also a link to step by step directions for acquiring the Visa on your own with their assistance, but given your departure date you may have no choice but to spring for a service.

http://www.hotelbooker.ru/eng/catalo...skiy/bron.html

Given the cheap air fare, I would think you would be willing to up your budget a bit for accomodations.

If you've never been to Russia, don't speak Russian, and are not familiar with the alphabet (making it very difficult to read a map and street names, subway stops, etc.), I would urge you to spend the extra on a well-located hotel in Moscow.

Celticharper

Thanks everyone for your help. It's obvious that we will have to spend more per night than we are used to.

I think if my husband had realized the visa problem he would have booked later in April, but the reservations are already made so we'll have to try our best to get the visa in time. I just hate to make reservations at a hotel that are non refundable if we don't end up getting the visa's in time.

This could end up being a very expensive "cheap getaway".

Odin

The Sovietsky is a great option, there's time for the visa application, it's not quite urgent yet. Also, the most expensive part of the trip is the accommodation but the rest eg eating out, metro etc are not expensive (unless it's fine dining). Try to prebook transfer from the airport to the hotel.

LaurenKahn1

I am home exchanging in Finland next summer and am thinking about spending several days in St. Petersburg after the home exchange is over. I have been there once before on an elderhostel two week trip focussed on arts and theater (great trip!). I liked St. Petersburg more than Moscow (although I liked them both). St. Petersburg is only 4 hours from Helsinki by train.

Celticharper

At 4 stars that's 3 too many for my husband, he's allergic to stars or so he says. We are not foodies so we don't go to the michelin star restaurants or anything like that. We will usually find the local family restaurant and head in there, so our meals have never been a major expense for us. We certainly not above grabbing a bite from a sidewalk vendor for lunch, but it may be early in the season for that.

lincasanova

We stayed at a holiday inn, i believe the Vinogradovo, years ago and it turned out to be a fine experience. This was before we had internet, and it was the best price I found among all the chains I could call.

At the time they had a shuttle that took us into town plus free airport pickup. This turned out to be a huge savings. The shuttle later would collect us at a pre-designated time or we would call from the pubic phone at a large hotel with assistance.

You could book a cancellable normal rate now for the visa and then change it for the advanced purchase as soon as you are sure the visa is confirmed.

It is 20 minutes outside Moscow, but we enjoyed the trip every day. It was all quite an adventure and I would not hesitate to stay there again if their price were a big savings.

Taking the metro from other parts of Moscow can also take time, so in the end, when you get dropped off right downtown, it is like a free personal taxi service.

I see on www.booking.com they say this service is available still, but I did not see it on the hotel's website.

Celticharper

Thanks lincasanova, I think the airport transfer will be a big savings if I can get a hotel with that service it would be worth it to spend a bit more.

lincasanova

I doubt any Moscow city hotels have a free transfer, but all these options are worth keeping in mind when price is important. We loved Moscow, but went in winter for valentine's Day. It had snowed and was so clean looking, quite different than it could be in other months or with older dirty snow.

I, too, had booked really cheap tickets, then found out brand name city hotels were going to be way over $250 ( in those days) and ...quite a shock since we were staying 6 nights.

I hope you find something close to your desired budget, but sometimes there is no other convenient choice. Keep us posted.

lincasanova

The Moscow Times has some good info on their guide pages.
www.moscowtimes.ru

Odin

The Iris Congress hotel has free transfer to the city centre from the hotel. It is a decent hotel, used to be a Sofitel, have stayed many times although not recently. Only drawback is that the traffic can make the transfer to Tverskaya quite long.

Holiday Inn Sokolniki is another option, accessible by public transport from SVO, it is opposite Sokolniki metro for access to the city centre.

tower

CelticHarper and Odin

<i>there's time for the visa application,</i>

Leaving on April 10th, I fail to see where there's no urgency...we're saying 18 business days (and there's nothing more fun than getting the visa by intercepting the mailman on your way to the airport)! Odin, I've travelled Russia very frequently during SSR days (as far east as Uzbek SSR), and more recently (also including Belarus and Ukraine...no visa required for the latter)...and getting a visa is and has always been a time-intensive/sensitive problem. Please be aware, Celtic.

stu T.

thursdaysd

I agree with Stu - your visa application is URGENT. In fact, you might want to pay extra for expedited processing - see www.russianembassy.org for fees and processing times, to which you have to add delivery times.

Note that if you're not showing up in person, you have to use a visa handling agency. The embassy web site recommends three and Stu's recommendation (Genvisa) isn't one of them - and Genvisa says to allow 20 business days!

Plus, you HAVE to have: "A standard tourist confirmation from a hosting authorized Russian travel agency or a hotel, registered with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a voucher from your hotel or travel agency in Russia."